The Captive

Born Maria Lvovna Dillon in Ponevezh in the Russian Empire (today Panevėžys, Lithuania) to a well-to-do family, Maria Dillon studied at the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Fine Arts. Receiving praise and awards for her sculptures, notably Andromeda Chained to the Rock (1888), she continued her studies in Paris and Rome. In 1893, Dillon was featured at the Chicago World’s Fair (Columbian Exposition) Fine Arts Palace, where she became internationally known as the first female Russian sculptor. In addition to allegorical and portrait sculptures, she also produced monumental tombs for Russian elites and casting models for the crafts industry. She was married to art-nouveau painter Fyodor Buchholz.